Easing of sanctions expected early next year plus transparency can and should pave the way for the much-needed economic revitalization, said Morteza Bank, a senior official in President Hassan Rouhani’s office. The biggest and visible positive impact of the implementation of the historic nuclear deal with the six world powers will be in economic spheres, he said.
“Banking, insurance, industry, trade and services sectors will benefit greatly from the termination of sanctions. The stage will be set for the economy to move gradually toward growth and improvement,” he was quoted as saying by the banker.ir, a special banking website.
Speaking at the first festival of Consumer Satisfaction in Banking and Insurance, the official recalled that the international restrictions, imposed due to the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program, had distracted the economy from the path of production and created an army of greedy middlemen and brokers looking for a fast buck.
He called for the expansion of economic relations with other countries in the post-sanctions era while stressing the importance of relying on domestic potential, knowledge and research.
Bank highlighted economic transparency as instrumental in economic improvement and warned against turning a blind eye to the seeping corruption in all its forms and manifestations. “Transparency means we all strictly uphold the law. Those at the helm in financial institutions should work (first) to enhance transparency.”
Mohammad Movahedi, managing director of legal affairs in the Ministry of Economy said transparency will take hold only when the uncertified financial and lending institutions are consigned to history. He pointed to the quasi banks and unruly lenders in the money market and said these institutions have illegally hold people’s savings and deposits posing a formidable danger to the national economy.
Movahedi complained that the present quality of transparency in the economic domain is not acceptable and stressed the need for a clean, healthy and competitive economic climate. “Economic transparency carries with it healthy competition and improves productivity and growth.”
The official pointed to the plethora of cumbersome bureaucracy, rules and regulations weighing on the economy and said the layers of red tape have discouraged investment and business.
“Countries with a 250-year-old history of lawmaking have an average of 700 basic rules for business. Our country has about 11,800 rules while the law is just 110 years old.”
The global average number of permits and certificates needed for establishing a new business is about 120 while in Iran the figure stands at 2,000 according to Movahedi.
He referred to the recent improvement in Iran’s ranking in the ‘ease of doing business index’ stating that joining the World Trade Organization can improve the prospects of doing business in Iran which in turn would attract foreign investments. “It would also provide consumers with domestically manufactured quality products.”
